The study was conducted for APLU by
Sightlines, a leader in helping academic institutions better manage
their facilities and capital investment strategies.
Deferred maintenance refers to the
postponement of maintenance activities and capital investments - such
as repairs on property, facilities and machinery -- in order to match
limited budgets or realign available resources.
“These study results confirm the
suspected magnitude of a problem that must be addressed if our
institutions are going to continue to be able to conduct the
high-quality research that is at the cutting edges of the science and
education enterprises,” said Ian L. Maw, Vice President of Food,
Agriculture and Natural Resources at APLU. “While specific strategies to
address this issue are suggested in this report, it is also clear that
the responsibility to ameliorate it resides with no single entity, but
rather a coalition of federal and state governments, as well as campus
leadership.”
Founded in 1887, APLU is a research,
policy and advocacy organization of public research universities,
land-grant institutions, state university systems and higher education
organizations. Sightlines studied deferred maintenance in buildings on
campuses that house agriculture, forestry, veterinary sciences, food
sciences and human sciences academic programs, and agriculture extension
sites. These buildings are used to conduct major research funded by the
USDA, as well as other public and private entities.
The Sightlines/APLU study assessed more
than 15,000 buildings that have a combined current replacement value of
$29 billion. Sightlines used a methodology that included a survey of 101
colleges and universities, accompanied by a comprehensive
building-by-building inventory of agriculture and agriculture-related
space, and detailed reports on deferred maintenance in those buildings.
The survey received a 90 percent participation rate (91 responding
institutions).
“The scope and breadth of this study
makes it the largest and most comprehensive study of U.S. schools of
agriculture research, academic and support facilities ever completed,”
said James Kadamus, vice president at Sightlines and the principal
executive for the study. “There are a number of warning signs that we
identified for the APLU member institutions, one of which is the
discovery that they are facing an average of $95 per gross square feet
in deferred maintenance. The Sightlines benchmark for critical level
when system failures become more likely is $100 per gross square feet,
so this is also a major operational concern.”
The Sightlines report warns that,
without substantial additional investment, the schools of agriculture
can be expected to experience buildings with: roofs that leak,
foundations that crack and doors and windows that don’t keep the heat in
or cold out; HVAC, electrical and plumbing systems that fail;
laboratories that cannot function; animal care that is compromised; and
health and safety problems for building occupants.
According to Kadamus, more than half (57
percent) of the space in the buildings surveyed is dedicated to
teaching and research, the core academic missions of colleges and
universities.
For more information about the report
and to review Sightlines’ recommendations for how schools of agriculture
can address the deferred maintenance problem, please go to www.sightlines.com.
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